


Moving On

by badgerterritory



Category: Runaways (Comics), X-23 (Comic)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-11
Updated: 2014-04-11
Packaged: 2018-01-19 00:33:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1448731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badgerterritory/pseuds/badgerterritory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A few weeks after Xavin is taken, Karolina decides she needs space from her friends to grieve. The entire continent seems like enough space to her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moving On

**Author's Note:**

> AU. I've taken some liberties with the timelines, as this happens a few weeks after Xavin's taken and after NYX, but before Laura joins the X-Men.

Her friends are nice, with good intentions, but suffocating. Constantly asking her if she's okay, if she needs anything. At some point she's just had enough. She walks outside, not even thinking, and takes off. When Karolina finally stops flying, exhausted and barely holding onto her shine, she has no idea where she is and it’s getting dark. She asks someone, who informs her that she’s just a few miles away from New York City. She decides to head into the city. Stealthily. Without the light show.

She wanders for a while, and eventually ends up in an alley where she checks her pockets, sighing in relief when she finds her wallet, with enough money to get something to eat. She looks up and finds a dark-haired girl looking at her, completely still. There’s a bag of trash in her hand, and the other hand is a raised fist.

Karolina clears her throat and wipes at her eyes in case there are some leftover tears. “I’m, uh, sorry if I disturbed you.”

The girl doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t move. Not even her eyes. Karolina’s a little creeped out, but she figures showing it would be rude. Instead she says, “I’m, uh, just going to go.”

"Are you homeless?"

The sound of her voice, deep and raspy, startles Karolina. The girl still hasn’t moved, and Karolina says, “Um, no. Well, I mean, my home’s in California. I, um, was kind of upset. I, uh, flew here.”

Finally, the girl moves. She throws the trash bag into the dumpster next to the building and before Karolina knows what’s happening, she’s being pressed to the wall and the girl’s face is right up in her neck. She’s confused but a little horny, because she’s pinning Karolina with a leg between hers. And that makes her feel guilty, and reminds her of Xavin, and then she starts crying…

The girl steps back and Karolina slides down the wall, not even bothering to try holding back her tears. “I’m sorry,” the girl says unemotionally. “You are not a mutant.”

Karolina keeps crying. The girl wavers, then disappears. When Karolina stops crying, she gets up, intending to leave. But then the girl is back, offering a bag. “It has food,” she says. “I know a place to stay tonight. Come with me.”

Karolina gets up. She mutters, “I don’t even know your name.”

The girl hesitates, turns halfway to face Karolina, then says, “Laura.” And she continues. Karolina eats as she follows.

The place Laura knows is a camp full of homeless people. Karolina’s initial instinct is to leave, but she won’t have any power until the sun comes back and New York City is dangerous. She says, “I need to find a pay phone or something. I need to call my friends, they’re probably worried about me.”

Without a word, Laura pulls a cell phone from her pocket and offers it to Karolina. She thinks about questioning it, saying she can just put coins in a pay phone, but with her powers gone…

Karolina accepts the phone and dials. It takes a full minute to convince Nico she’s okay, and then she has to talk to Klara and Molly and convince them she’s okay, and then the phone gets passed back to Nico who tells her how stupid she is and how dangerous flying off like that was, and then Chase tells her that Victor wants to yell at her too but the phone gets all staticky when they get it near him while he’s agitated so he just relays the good bits and reminds her that he’s there for her, and by the time Karolina finishes, she has a tight knot of homesickness to go with the black hole of grief in her chest.

And Laura is staring at her with that uneasily steady neutral expression. “You smell like sadness,” she says as Karolina sits next to her. “You lost someone.”

Karolina closes her eyes to keep the tears at bay. She mutters, “My girlfriend. It’s… complicated.”

"I was forced to kill my mother," Laura says, voice still completely even, but with eyes that were boring into Karolina, offering… something. "I am… not good with these things. But I know what loss feels like."

Karolina snorts. “Jesus. My girlfriend and I, we were supposed to get married to bring peace between our planets. Then everything went wrong and both our planets were destroyed… a squad from my planet came and she went with them to save me.”

Laura pulls on Karolina’s arm abruptly, guiding her head to her lap. “When I was young,” she says, “I wanted to sit with my mother like this. It made me comfortable. Happy. It wasn’t allowed.”

Karolina looks up at Laura, who stares down at her. Karolina murmurs, “That sounds awful. Can you… can you run your fingers through my hair? Xavin used to do that for me.”

Without responding, Laura begins to gently run her fingers through Karolina’s hair. When she starts to fall asleep, she feels Laura pull a blanket over her.

* * *

When Karolina wakes up, her head is still in Laura’s lap, but the girl is slumped over, sleeping quietly. As soon as she lifts her head, Laura bolts upright, fists raised. When she sees Karolina, she relaxes. Actually relaxes, which she hadn’t at all done before.

Karolina squirms into a sitting position and says, “Uh, if you didn’t guess it from the sob story last night, I’m an alien. I was born on Earth, though. My mom and dad promised me to a Skrull, a political marriage.”

Laura doesn’t even blink. “I’m a genetic clone of Wolverine. My mother created me after twenty-two failures. The facility I was born in trained me to be an assassin. I escaped recently, killing almost everyone, including my mother.” Laura shuffles closer, putting her head on Karolina’s shoulder. “Tell me about your lover.”

So Karolina does. She tells Laura the whole story, even some private details, her favorite little things about Xavin, her favorite quiet moments, like when there was nothing threatening Los Angeles and they could just sit and watch movies or look up things to help Xavin learn about Earth cultures. The black hole lessens as she speaks, to something that’s still constant but doesn’t threaten to destroy her.

Laura doesn’t say anything. Karolina looks at her and realizes that Laura is  _pretty_. She leans in and, when Laura doesn’t say anything, kisses her. When she pulls back, Laura’s expression is a little softer. Karolina’s about to apologize when Laura pulls her in for another kiss. “I hope you don’t mind,” she says a moment later. “I’m still not used to… wanting things. People. It is complicated for me.”

Karolina clears her throat. “No. It’s fine. I hope you don’t expect me to…”

"I don’t expect anything," Laura interrupts. "You are grieving. I simply wished to kiss you. I thought it would be acceptable since you kissed me."

"It was acceptable," Karolina says. "It was more than acceptable. It was… nice. Do you have anywhere you need to be? I need to be out in the sun for a while. To let my powers recharge."

Without responding, Laura stands up and waits. Karolina, realizing that Laura probably didn’t learn manners from people who wanted her to be an assassin, doesn’t take it personally and gets up with her. She takes Laura’s hand as they walk, missing the feeling of just holding hands with someone, and Laura offers the tiniest of smiles. Karolina can see the effort she puts into it, so she smiles back genuinely.

On Karolina’s insistence, they go into a shop to pick out something new for Laura. Karolina flutters over to the bright things, the warm colors, but Laura hovers near the darker items. Eventually Laura finds a jacket she likes, and Karolina buys it for her as a thank-you for being kind. They spend the rest of the day together, and it’s an hour away from getting dark when Laura orders her to go. She presses the phone into Karolina’s hand. “I stole it from my pimp’s body,” she says. “I know the number. I’ll call you if I can.”

Karolina smiles and kisses Laura’s forehead. “You’re amazing, Laura, you really are. You don’t even know me, and you…” She stops when she notices Laura looking a little uncomfortable. “Maybe I’ll come back someday? And we can have dinner, and talk.”

"Maybe," Laura echoes. "You should go, Karolina. Return to your friends."

"Definitely call me," Karolina orders, "and I’ll get back to New York when I can." And she relishes in the last of the sun on her body as she flies.

* * *

When Karolina finally makes it back to the others, Nico comes flying out and basically tackles Karolina, who laughs and hugs her back. “I’m fine, I’m fine,” she says. “Just needed to get my head on straight. I think I’m ready to start moving on. I love… loved… Xavin, but she’s gone, and nothing is going to change that.”

Nico rubs Karolina’s back a little and draws away. “We’re all here for you, K.”

"Thanks." Karolina pulls Nico inside, hugging and greeting the rest of them before glancing back at Nico. "Do you think you could sit down and let me put my head in your lap? And then you can run your fingers through my hair?"

Nico doesn’t even blink. “Of course.”

But of course, once Karolina gets comfortable, Molly wants in on the cuddling, which means Klara wants to cuddle too. By the time everyone gets settled, Karolina is pretty damn tired from all the flying she did, and Nico’s lap is a really comfortable pillow, so she shuts her eyes, deciding that she can talk to everyone about  Laura tomorrow…


End file.
